Press Contact: O&M Co. Rick Miramontez / Andy Snyder / Marie Pace
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[email protected] (212) 695-7400 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE AMERICAN THEATRE WING’S 2014 JONATHAN LARSON® GRANTS RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED PRESENTATIONS TO BE HELD ON APRIL 7th New York, NY (March 14, 2014) – The American Theatre Wing announced today that the recipients of the 2014 Jonathan Larson® Grants are writing team Sara Cooper (lyricist/bookwriter) & Zach Redler (composer), receiving $12,500 and the Running Deer Residency; and Shaina Taub (composer/lyricist), receiving $12,500. The prestigious grants, totaling $15,000 more than last year's grants, will be presented on Monday, April 7, 2014 at a private event at the WNYC Greene Space. The event will feature special performances of the recipients’ work. In addition to selecting this year's grant recipients, the expert panel, consisting of Nell Benjamin, Maria Goyanes, and Peter Schneider, will direct $5,000 towards a new enhancement of the Larson Grant program: a mentorship component to further the recipients’ artistic development in the year in which they receive the grant. The grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers, help to continue Tony Award®-winning composer Jonathan Larson’s dream of infusing musical theatre with a contemporary, joyful, urban vitality. Dedicated to celebrating excellence and supporting theatre, the American Theatre Wing awards the Larson Grants to artists to recognize and showcase their work with no strings attached - except to put it to the best use possible to help further the artists' creative endeavors. Past recipients of the Larson Grants include Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (A Christmas Story), Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), Chad Beguelin & Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer), John Bucchino (A Catered Affair), Laurence O’Keefe (Bat Boy: The Musical), Michael Korie (Grey Gardens), and Amanda Green (Hands on a Hardbody).